Lions-Giants Monday Night Football Preview

I get to watch a Lions game Monday! And so does everybody else in the country. The Giants play host to a Lions team that lost 17-6 in their Week 15 matchup at MetLife Stadium. It leaves room for concern, but an injured Matthew Stafford and cold weather definitely played a part in the loss, but that’s neither here nor there. Without further adieu, let’s hop into it.

Detroit can very well win this football game. The Giants allowed 129 yards on the ground last week to the Cowboys in a 19-3 loss. Granted, Ameer Abdullah is no Ezekiel Elliot, the Giants allowed just 75 rush yards per game, and just 104.5 per game to the Cowboys. Now, there’s no guarantee that Detroit will be able to establish any sort of run game, but there is hope, again, considering that the Giants were a good team at defending the run last year. A lot of the success on the ground depends on the play of left guard, Graham Glasgow. Simply put, Glasgow won that job because he was the best of a bad bunch of guys competing for the job.

Establishing a run game is important, no doubt. BUT, Detroit can get an air attack going as well, with little to no issue. A healthy Stafford is going to help exponentially, and putting Golden Tate in the slot, where he’s more naturally suited to play, is also going to help. The Giants allowed 263 freaking passing yards to Dak Prescott, along with one touchdown. Now, I’m a Dak hater, and I have been for a while, but that’s neither here nor there. If they allow 263 yards and one touchdown to Dak Prescott and his mediocre at best receiving corps, what’s going to happen when Detroit comes to town with a much better receiving corps? One can only hope that it’s a man handling.

Now, in terms of the Giants. They couldn’t get anything going, in the air or the ground, against a mediocre, on a good day, defense. Eli Manning didn’t connect on a pass with Brandon Marshall until the fourth quarter, that’s not promising. On top of that, Odell Beckham Jr. was expected to come back this week, but after an obscure tweet, nobody really knows what’s going to happen.

No offense. I could care less about ur fantasy teams. This is my Real Life. Focusing on gettin healthy and gettin better. 1 day at a time.🙏🏽

The Lions defense allowed just 45 rushing yards to a David Johnson-led rushing attack. The front-seven, after being the main concern in training camp and the preseason, showed major promise and proved to be the difference makers. Even the pass defense was stout, despite allowing 263 passing yards, they intercepted the football three times, another area they struggled in last year.

Two Lions that need to play well for them to be able to win are Ameer Abdullah and Nevin Lawson. Abdullah needs to prove that he can be a 15-20+ carry per game running back in this game, as well as prove he can run the football at a high level. Him doing that, would, obviously, help the Lions establish a run game, but also help them control the clock a lot better. Controlling the clock and dominating time of possession is how they won nine games last season. Nevin Lawson needs to perform well simply because he will likely shadow Sterling Shepard, especially if Odell does in fact play, assuming Darius Slay shadows him.

Prediction time! Ameer Abdullah runs circles around the Giants run defense, and Matthew Stafford makes me regret not starting him in fantasy. Eli throws an interception in typical Eli Manning fashion, however, Paul Perkins manages to put the team on his back, and gain 137 yards from scrimmage. Final score being 20-16 in favor of Detroit.